2025 Policy Recommendation
Align data collection practices across agencies to improve systems and programs that are not currently meeting the needs of people of color, children with disabilities, and other vulnerable populations in Vermont. This will require determining and allocating necessary funding to update infrastructure to comply with expected changes in federal reporting of demographic data. Ensure that the strategy allows individuals to fill out required forms in a way that aligns with the ways in which they self-identify while meeting federal requirements. Renewed Policy Recommendation (2023, 2024)
What It Means
In March 2024, the federal Office of Management and Budget revised the Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity. All federal reporting will be required to meet these standards within four years. Vermont has a unique opportunity to align data collection and reporting across agencies, departments, and divisions to inform investments, policies, and programs while updating data systems to meet new federal guidance.
While pursuing these strategies, it is critical that we partner with impacted communities, secure sufficient funding to compensate those collecting data, and in the interim, find ways to elevate and meaningfully utilize qualitative data that illustrates the nuances, specific challenges, and opportunities identified from individuals’ experiences.
Why It Matters
Closing access or service gaps is a key element of striving toward equity and quality in Vermont’s early childhood system. In some cases, a program or resource might even require a complete reimagining to best meet the needs and preferences of those it is seeking to serve. In order to support those designing and implementing programs in making data-informed policies that reflect the needs of all families and children in the state, we need to invest more capacity and resources into collecting, analyzing, and reporting data that tells the stories of marginalized or vulnerable people in Vermont.
Connects to VECAP Goal 4:
The early childhood system will be integrated, well-resourced, and data-informed.
Spotlight on Equity
Equity in service means providing resources to people based on their needs, even when they may require increased provision of resources compared to others. However, we do not currently have a full picture of who is being adequately served and whether or not we are missing specific groups or communities when administering programs or delivering services.
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